The headline
78.2% of rated UK food businesses hold the top 5-star hygiene rating.
Of 483,819 rated establishments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 378,251 hold the top 5-star rating (Very Good), for a national average of 4.65 out of 5. Among major UK cities, Lincoln is the cleanest (93.2% 5-star) and Reading the lowest (64.4%). Restaurants and cafes (75.3% 5-star) out-score takeaways (61%).
Cleanest UK cities for food hygiene
34 major UK cities ranked by the share of food businesses holding the top 5-star FSA rating. Each city is its real Food Standards Agency local authority — no estimates.
| # | City | 5★ share | Avg rating | Rated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincoln | 93.2% | 4.89 | 1,010 |
| 2 | Nottingham | 90% | 4.83 | 2,669 |
| 3 | Peterborough | 88.2% | 4.83 | 1,748 |
| 4 | Oxford | 87.7% | 4.8 | 1,362 |
| 5 | Exeter | 87% | 4.81 | 994 |
| 6 | Sunderland | 83.9% | 4.74 | 1,949 |
| 7 | Brighton & Hove | 82.1% | 4.75 | 2,754 |
| 8 | Gloucester | 81.7% | 4.73 | 1,018 |
| 9 | Stoke-on-Trent | 78.5% | 4.65 | 1,883 |
| 10 | Worcester | 78.2% | 4.7 | 593 |
| 11 | Plymouth | 78% | 4.6 | 1,634 |
| 12 | Cambridge | 77.5% | 4.67 | 1,300 |
| 13 | Hull | 77.4% | 4.56 | 1,932 |
| 14 | Coventry | 77.3% | 4.66 | 2,412 |
| 15 | Bristol | 75.7% | 4.64 | 3,696 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton | 75.2% | 4.56 | 2,033 |
| 17 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 75.1% | 4.55 | 2,496 |
| 18 | Leeds | 74.8% | 4.67 | 5,704 |
| 19 | Sheffield | 74.5% | 4.6 | 4,397 |
| 20 | York | 74.3% | 4.62 | 1,836 |
| 21 | Derby | 73.7% | 4.56 | 1,963 |
| 22 | Belfast | 72.3% | 4.59 | 2,915 |
| 23 | Bradford | 72% | 4.56 | 4,063 |
| 24 | Leicester | 71.7% | 4.51 | 3,090 |
| 25 | Manchester | 70.8% | 4.5 | 5,184 |
| 26 | Cardiff | 69.7% | 4.53 | 3,038 |
| 27 | Swansea | 68.8% | 4.53 | 2,144 |
| 28 | Southampton | 68% | 4.51 | 1,489 |
| 29 | Liverpool | 67.9% | 4.39 | 3,334 |
| 30 | Birmingham | 65.5% | 4.3 | 8,202 |
| 31 | Luton | 65.1% | 4.41 | 1,298 |
| 32 | Norwich | 65% | 4.52 | 1,347 |
| 33 | Portsmouth | 64.5% | 4.37 | 1,543 |
| 34 | Reading | 64.4% | 4.38 | 1,353 |
The cities at the bottom of this table are not unsafe — a lower 5-star share usually means more businesses sit at 3-4 stars (passing, but with room to improve) rather than the top mark. Birmingham has the largest share of genuinely low-rated (0-1 star) premises at 9.7%.
Scottish cities (measured differently)
Scotland uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) — a pass/fail scheme, not the 0-5 scale — so its cities are ranked by pass rate. Dundee leads at 92.9% pass.
Best and worst food business types
Across 483,927 rated businesses, here are the three business types with the highest and lowest share of 5-star ratings.
Highest 5★ share
- Schools, colleges & universities92%
- Farmers & growers90.5%
- Other catering premises88.9%
Lowest 5★ share
- Takeaways & sandwich shops61%
- Food shops & convenience retailers71.2%
- Restaurants, cafes & canteens75.3%
The headline comparison diners care about: takeaways vs restaurants hygiene, compared in full →
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Citation
GeraEats (2026). UK Food Hygiene Report 2026. Retrieved from https://geraeats.com/reports/uk-food-hygiene-2026Embed (HTML)
<blockquote>Lincoln is the cleanest major UK city for food hygiene with 93.2% of food businesses rated 5 stars (FSA data, 2026-06-12) — <a href="https://geraeats.com/reports/uk-food-hygiene-2026">UK Food Hygiene Report 2026</a>, GeraEats.</blockquote>Go deeper
- The State of UK Restaurant Hygiene 2026 — full national distribution + every local authority ranked.
- UK Food Hygiene by Region 2026 — which UK region leads and which trails.
- UK Food Hygiene by Business Type 2026 — restaurants vs takeaways vs cafes vs shops.
- Takeaways vs Restaurants: which is cleaner? — the head-to-head comparison.
- UK Food Hygiene Ratings Directory — the full 607,906-establishment dataset, browsable by authority and postcode.
Methodology
All figures are computed directly from the Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) and Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) public register, covering 607,906 establishments across 360 local authorities. The cleanest/dirtiest-city league table is restricted to 34 major UK cities, each mapped to its real FSA local authority, and ranked by the share of rated establishments holding a 5-star rating. Percentages are over rated establishments only (premises awaiting inspection or exempt are excluded). Scotland uses a separate pass/fail scheme and is reported in its own table. No figures are estimated or modelled. Data as of 2026-06-12.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Food hygiene ratings are sourced from the Food Standards Agency at ratings.food.gov.uk. Ratings reflect the most recent inspection on record and may have changed since publication.